My host family in my home town

Confusing maybe, but I will explain. When I was in America I was hosted by a local family. I loved them and they loved me, which is why one year after my study exchange they came to Italy. They came to see me, get it now? My hosts in my home.

Their arrival

I waited for this moment for a long time and after fifteen months we finally saw each other again. It was great. I had to go to the airport to pick them up and it was beautiful. As soon as I saw them I got out of the car and ran towards them and hugged them. I could not believe that they were really in Milan. I planned a lot to do with them but my American mom was feeling tired so we went to the hotel so that they could check in and then I started walking around my area with my American dad. I showed him my elementary school, my middle school and my high school. Then we walked on the main street and I showed him the places where people get Happy Hour in Milan.

(The view from their hotel... not the prettiest, even though the hotel is very nice).

Dinner one of three

Once this was done he also went back to the hotel so he could shower and rest for a little bit. That night I went out for dinner with both my biological family and my American family in Navigli. We chose a restaurant with a view but decided eventually to be inside because they had air conditioning and it was warm outside. It was a beautiful meal followed by a walk alongside the canal.

Saturday

The day after was all about the city center, they saw the Sforza Castle, Via Montenapoleone and of course the Duomo. They loved the cathedral, and they thought that the sculpture in front of the Italian Stock Exchange was funny. Yes, I am talking about the middle finger. They work with investments so they know all about that stuff and I wanted to show them how funny it is to have a middle finger in front of the Borsa.

Source

Then we had lunch, with some ham, cheese, green olives, and drinks. Very easy and on the go. Saturday night they came to my restaurant. My mom had a few people over with live music. My American parents met all my relatives and I was basically the translator because just a few people could communicate with them without my help.

Sunday

On Sunday my American mom asked me if I could help her to shop. She wanted to get some pasta and a few other Italian things from the groceries store. So we all go to the shop and my mom starts to show my American mom everything she thought she would have liked. It was so funny to see because somehow they understood each other. And then there were us, the four boys waiting for the girls to be done with shopping. Same old story.

After they were done with groceries and stored everything in their hotel room, we went to Palazzo Della Regione because I wanted to show them Milan from above. They were impressed. Milan, after all, is a small city but when you observe it from one of the tallest buildings in the whole country you see it differently. I showed them the Central Station, the Duomo, Piazza Gae Aulenti, Tre Torri etc.

For dinner, we went out and they tasted Cotoletta Alla Milanese because I mean... they were in Milan, they had to try. After we were all done they had to go and rest because on Monday they had to wake up at six in the morning and go to the airport. I also woke up that early because I wanted to say goodbye. I drove and dropped them at the bag drop where they got rid of their luggage. I saw them walking further away from me hand in hand. It was sad but after seeing them this very first time after my exchange I got positive that other opportunities could come our way, and in fact they did. More to come in a new blog post.

- Cristian

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